The present invention relates to a child's toy which produces a variety of visual and audible impressions. In particular, the present invention relates to a child's toy including one or more movable elements for producing a visual impression of motion as well as audible impressions such as rattling and other sounds. The audible and visible impressions need not be coterminous.
It is known in the art to enclose a plurality of balls in a partially transparent casing, and to strike or propel the balls by use of one or more rigid arms rotatably mounted on a shaft disposed within the casing. The arms may be mounted so as to rotate in response to displacement of the casing itself, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,036 issued to Motley, or the arms may be driven independently of the casing as indicated in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 232,576 issued to Langieri.
Such devices, however, are not suitable for manipulation by an infant in a crib. Specifically, such devices cannot be vertically mounted in a substantially stationary manner on a crib rail for operation by the infant. Either the casing itself must be displaced to cause operation of the arms or the casing must be secured in a substantially horizontal plane.
It is also known in the art to use a rotatably mounted pulley coupled to an energy storing means to produce general rotational motion of a casing in which a plurality of balls are freely disposed as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,628 issued to Palmer. Rotation of the casing results in agitation of the balls disposed therein without having to strike the balls with any arm-like members. In such an arrangement, the pulley is rotatably mounted exterior to the casing and in driving engagement therewith. Thus, it can be readily appreciated that the prior art does not disclose a child's toy which is easily mounted in a substantially stationary position on a crib rail and which provides for the manipulation by an infant of a member exterior to the toy casing by which a plurality of balls disposed within the casing can be agitated to produce a visual impression of motion and a rattling noise, all without displacement of the casing itself.